Apple Teases New Notebook, Rumored Under $1,000

Apple on Thursday sent out press invitations with the tease, "The spotlight turns to notebooks" -- and all signs are pointing toward the launch of a sub-$1,000 Mac notebook.

The invitation says the event will be held at the Apple headquarters Town Hall building at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said he was confident that Apple would be releasing a sub-$1,000 notebook. He pointed out that in Apple's last quarterly earnings call, the company hinted at a "product transition" that would allow Apple to deliver "state-of-the-art new products that our competitors aren't going to be able to match." Munster said this translates to Apple releasing a product that's significantly lower priced than the existing ones in order to hit its gross margin guidance.

"We feel good they're going to have a sub-$1,000 notebook," Munster said. "It's just been two and a half years since these [Mac notebooks] have been redesigned, so it's been long overdue."

To further back Munster's theory, Inquisitr cites an Apple retail store insider who claimed seeing price sheets suggesting stores would carry an $800 laptop. Also, AppleInsider claims that informed sources confirmed that a leaked photo (below) purported to be the next-generation Mac notebook is the real deal.

Vijay Rakesh, a ThinkPanmure analyst, agreed it was likely that Apple would release a sub-$1,000 notebook. He said he believes this device will be Apple's netbook. Netbooks, which are low-priced, pared down laptops streamlined for internet usage, have been soaring in popularity, but Apple has yet to step into this new market.

Rakesh and Munster said it's likely Apple will release a touchscreen notebook -- the fabled "Brick" that many on the internet have squabbled about.

"It is definitely a new entry into a lower price segment," Rakesh said. "It will probably impact their profitability, and they have expected some lower price point products to come.... I think they are being reactive to the lower-end netbook phenomenon, so we'll have to see how differentiated and how attractive the new product is."

RBC Capital analyst Mike Abramsky added his speculation on what the "Brick" and the rest of the notebook line would look like. Abramsky believes the rumored sub-$1,000 "Brick" will include an optical drive and ethernet connectivity -- features missing from Apple's MacBook Air subnotebook. As for the entire notebook line overall, he said we can expect thinner laptops along with new packaging based on Apple's rumored manufacturing process that involves carving a notebook out of a brick of metal.
_________________Founder ofGalaxyGUI

It's true guys, I've seen the new MacBook and the new MacBook Pro. I worked at Apple for 2 weeks recently, but left due to college and what-not. It's all definitely happening. _________________SONIC BOOM - mbartlett.me